Hello!

At last - a new drabble!

This one is set in 4.15 'House's Head' and is another secret-relationship-AU. It's on the fun and silly side (given the amount of drama and pain and tears in this two-parter, I thought it would be wiser).

Thank you for your patience. I hope you will enjoy this one as well. Happy holidays!

57. Are you sure?

"You," House said, his employee's name evading him for a second. "Get histories from everyone in here."

"Did you just forget his name?" Wilson asked right away. Obviously.

"No." The sight of a brunette in a lab coat hovering nearby caught his attention, at exactly the right time. A second later and he would have had to deal with Wilson… "Babe!"

The shock of hearing her nickname in the ER had her frozen in place for a second, which was a good thing because it made it seem like she didn't understand immediately that he was talking to her, and no one would be figuring out that it was what he called her beyond the hospital's walls.

With a roll of her eyes, Cuddy stepped towards him. "Forgot my name, too, House?" she asked, hoping that he was only pulling her leg. After Wilson had told her House had been in a bus accident, she'd put her lab coat on and hurried downstairs, hoping to be able to catch a glimpse of him. He wasn't that badly hurt, but those memory issues had her worried.

"Noooo."

Wilson and his team looked at him intently. He sighed. He was gonna have to prove it.

"Your name is Cud..." His mind went blank for a second, his tongue stuck behind his teeth. "-Dles?"

Wilson covered his mouth with his hand. Kutner tried to contain his snicker. Cuddy didn't look away – she wanted to seem detached and professional, but he could see her fear in the tight line of her jaw. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing her name to come back to him.

"Cuddy!" he exclaimed proudly. "Cuddy. See? I'm not brain-damaged."

House dispatched orders to his team before his friends could nag him. As soon as they left, Cameron insisted that he stay the night for observation and Wilson tried to discourage him from finding that mysterious, dying patient, but to no avail: he was already onto a lead.

He sent Wilson to look for the bus driver, being able to wait for exactly three seconds before he stood up and followed him.

"House," she called out. He turned to her. "Are you sure?"

"Can't do anything else. I have to know."

And she was well aware of that. Once the wheels in his brain started turning, he was like a runaway train. The only thing that would stop him was finding the answer.

"Take it easy, then," she advised. Like that would ever happen. "I want you home safe and sound."

Wilson shouted his name from the other end of the ER.

"See you later, Cuddy," he said with a wink, before heading towards Wilson.